- By Kate Ackley CQ-Roll Call
WASHINGTON —Some political groups may no longer be able to hide the identities of their donors after the full Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a decision by Chief Justice John G. Roberts that had stopped a lower court ruling requiring the disclosures.
The full court, which has eight members at the moment, denied an application for a stay —or delay —of the lower court ruling in a case involving the conservative group Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, which has been fighting since 2012 a lawsuit demanding that it disclose its donors.
The case involving Crossroads, and on the other side the liberal-leaning group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, dates back to 2012 when CREW filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the conservative group had violated federal campaign finance laws by failing to disclose the names of donors who funded campaign ads.
"This is an important decision which will help insure that voters have valuable information they need in evaluating advertising which is unquestionably aimed at trying to influence how they vote in elections," campaign finance law professor Rick Hasen wrote on his Election Law Blog. "It does not solve all of the current disclosure problems, but this is a victory for transparency."
FEC commissioner Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat, tweeted that the decision was "a real victory for transparency. As a result, the American people will be better informed about who's paying for the ads they're seeing this election season."
The lower court's decision, which the Supreme Court is no longer blocking, requires the disclosure of donors who contribute more than $200 to organizations' "independent expenditure" efforts aimed at influencing federal elections. Independent is supposed to mean that the groups act without coordination with a candidate's official campaign.
From CREW:
SCOTUS Denies Stay, New Disclosure Ruling Goes Into Effect
The Supreme Court today denied a stay, and lifted a temporary stay by Chief Justice Roberts, in Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s (CREW) landmark dark money case against Crossroad GPS and the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This decision, following similar decisive decisions by the district court and court of appeals this week, means that effective immediately, anyone making more than $250 in express advocacy ads — ads that tell viewers who to vote for or against — must now disclose the identities of all contributors who gave more than $200 in a year. They must also identify who among those contributors earmarked their contributions for express ads. Because of this decision, the contributors for a major category of dark money spending this fall will have to be disclosed to the public.
“This is a great day for transparency and democracy,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “Three courts, including the Supreme Court, have now rejected Crossroads’ arguments for a stay, meaning we’re about to know a lot more about who is funding our elections.”
Will add more, as I gather it.